1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a concrete container for introducing concrete into formwork, particularly into sliding formwork. The concrete container is composed of a vessel which is open toward the top and a bottom portion which tapers inwardly toward the bottom. The bottom portion has an outlet opening to which a distributing hose is connected. The container may be placed in a support frame. The container additionally has suspension means for connecting the container to a lifting unit. A pipe section is provided between the outlet opening of the container and the distributing hose.
2. Description of the Related Art
In civil engineering, concrete containers as they are known from DE-OS 21 36 365 are used for filling formwork with concrete when constructing buildings. In the simplest embodiment, the concrete container has an outlet opening with an outlet chute and a sliding flap which can be actuated by means of a pivotally mounted lever. The concrete container suspended from a lifting unit is placed adjacent to a concrete transporter and is filled with concrete through a filling chute. The concrete container filled in this manner is lifted by the lifting unit and is carried to the location where the concrete is to be filled into the formwork. A worker waiting at this location actuates the lever to open the sliding flap and the concrete slides as a result of its own weight through the outlet opening and through the outlet chute into the formwork. Once the concrete container is emptied in this manner, the above-mentioned lever is used for closing the sliding flap and, subsequently, the concrete container is returned by means of the lifting unit to the concrete transporter where the container can once again be filled.
It is already known in a container of the above-described type to provide a connecting piece adapted to the outlet chute, wherein the connecting piece is connected to a distributing hose, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, can be moved over the outlet chute and anchored to the container. Such connecting pieces with distributing hoses are used in these concrete containers when the location where the concrete is to be poured cannot be reached directly with the outlet chute. These concrete containers have an inclined outlet, so that the hose connected thereto is not squeezed by the support frame of the concrete container when the container is placed on the ground. Concrete containers of this type have been found very useful in those formworks in which the upper edge of the formwork is essentially freely accessible. This is usually the case when the formwork is used in the construction of residences and apartment buildings.
However, the accessibility of a formwork is severely impaired when the formwork is a sliding formwork as it is used preferably in the construction of tower-like buildings. Such a formwork is disclosed, for example, in Austrian Patent 395,742. In this case, the formwork or formwork portions are suspended from support yokes which usually support work platforms arranged on both sides of the building to be erected and which carry the formwork itself. In addition, reinforcement steel members project upwardly to a significant height and closely next to each other (Title page "Beton-und Stahlbetonbau" [Concrete and Reinforced Concrete Construction] Volume 10/92, Year 87). Sliding formworks of this type can no longer be filled with concrete containers of the above-described type which only have one outlet chute because the work platforms and reinforcement steel members and similar equipment make it impossible to move the concrete container closely enough to the edge of the formwork. For this reason, as explained above, such concrete containers are equipped with a distributing hose, wherein a sliding flap is provided between hose and outlet opening of the container. In addition, a platform is fastened to the support frame of a concrete container. A worker who has to operate this sliding flap is standing on this platform. A second worker guides the outlet opening of the hose which usually is several meters long to the filling area of the formwork. When the second worker gives the appropriate command, the worker standing on the platform operates the sliding flap. Since the concrete must be poured continuously when a sliding formwork is used, a worker must constantly man the concrete container. This worker is transported together with the container and his only task is to open and close the sliding flap upon the command of another worker. This type of operation is not particularly economical.
In order to improve upon this type of operation, the sliding flap has also already been arranged at the outlet opening of the distributing hose, so that the worker who guides the hose can also actuate the sliding flap. As a rule, in order to ensure accessibility to the edge of the formwork, the distributing hoses have a length of six to seven meters and a diameter of approximately 20 centimeters. In this case, the distributing hose is entirely filled with concrete and, therefore, is extremely heavy, so that usually two workers are required for operating the end piece of the distributing hose equipped with the sliding flap. In addition, it cannot be excluded that the projecting reinforcing steel members damage and rip open the distributing hose during the severe operating conditions as they exist on a construction site. In this case, when the concrete container is full, the entire contents would drop onto any workers standing below. It is to be noted that the concrete in the containers has a weight of several tons.